Week #37 and #38 in Germany

In a paddle boat on Lake Constance

The past two weeks have been a lot of fun. I am now entering my final month in Germany, so I decided to utilize my weekends for traveling to nearby cities. Two Saturdays ago, I visited Karlsruhe, and yesterday I visited Constance. Both cities were nice, but I found Constance to be more beautiful, because there was too much construction in Karlsruhe, Constance has a lovely lake, and you can see Switzerland from Constance. 

Time at school has been fun too. This past week in one of my classes I talked about German traditions and influences in the U.S. I showed a few pictures from towns that were settled by Germans, or created to look German, and the students guessed that the pictures were really from Germany. They were quite surprised to learn they were actually viewing American towns. I then had them break into groups to make their own "German American settlements" and it was neat to hear the different ideas they came up with. 

There was also some new, I'd say rather ironic, posters put up on the front doors of the school. Students from the lower grades made anti-smoking posters. The ironic thing for me is to see a mass of upper-level students standing right outside the same doors smoking. In Germany, the smoking age is 16, and there are no strict laws preventing the use of tobacco on school grounds. Students can no longer smoke in the play area at my school, but they still smoke in full view of the school. 

This is something a bit shocking for my American sensibilities. In the U.S., where the smoking age is 18, smoking is banned on American high school campuses, and even on some university campuses. Even teachers, who are legally permitted to smoke, can't smoke within 100 yards of a school campus, including after school hours. There's also no smoking in restaurants or clubs, and in New York City there's also a ban on smoking in the park.  

The fact that smoking is so prevalent in Germany (1 in 3 adults smoke), makes it surprising for me that there are more cigarette deaths every year in the the U.S. than in Germany. Maybe there should be less government intervention for our health. But then again, I am looking forward to breathing fresh air when I go for a run back home, as opposed to the typical inhalation of cigarette smoke from a passing stranger. 


**update** A friend brought to my attention that since 2007 the legal age to smoke in public in Germany is 18, and by law it is supposed to be strictly enforced. Although it may be enforced in some places, it's not enforced where I am. Additionally, I have colleagues who have told me the age is 16, so I guess the 2007 law isn't widely known.